Chapter 799 - There is never a true ally
The construction of the space elevator was in full swing.
Keeping the rhythm of one rocket per day, Celestial Trade Aerospace Institute had turned rocket launch into a daily activity, launching 24 tons of loads every day. All RM-320 Engines were produced by an industrial 3D printer. They all just rolled off the production line and were immediately shipped to the rocket launch site to be assembled.
In an interview with the media, employees at the institute even jokingly stated, “We have successfully transformed the space industry into an assembly line.”
However, when Kelvin sent the budget to Jiang Chen’s desk, Jiang Chen could only groan.
Four million a day, 14.6 billion a year!
It was merely the cost of transporting materials to outer space.
However, the more expensive, the more reason to invest. At the beginning of the year, Jiang Chen had already allocated 50 billion US Dollar to Celestial Trade. After the completion of the research and development of the space elevator, there were still more than 40 billion US Dollar in savings. Future Bank received a loan of 20 billion and 30 billion US Dollar through B City Bank and Morgan Stanley respectively. The loan used the shares of Future Group as collateral and had a repayment period of five years and an annual interest rate of 6%.
It must be said that the shares of Future Group remained attractive to the UA consortium. When Jiang Chen and Loki began to discuss loans, the old fox was hesitant in the beginning, saying that the amount was too large. When he heard that Jiang Chen was willing to use the shares of Future Group as collateral, all the hesitation disappeared. Loki wished he could lend more to Jiang Chen, and become the largest shareholder if Jiang Chen could not repay the loan.
However, after some hesitation, Jiang Chen didn’t do that in the end.
No matter what they were allies, Jiang Chen wouldn’t want to put them in such a miserable situation.
So, after going to B City Consortium, Jiang Chen went on to find another major shareholder of the Fed, the core of WASP Consortium, Morgan Stanley.
When Jiang Chen went to Morgan Stanley, he also used shares as the bait. Just as he expected, after they stated that they would debate this matter. The next day they contacted Jiang Chen stating that the 30 billion US Dollar loan was a go.
The reason why Morgan Stanley and B City Bank were so diligent was simply because they did not believe Jiang Chen could afford to repay the loan. Through multiple sources of intelligence, they all indicated Future Group was wasting large amounts of money on aerospace projects.
The analysts at Morgan Stanley and First B City Bank unanimously agreed that there the tens of billions of dollars of loans would be invested in aerospace projects.
They sentient on the street was that aerospace projects are a bottomless pit.
Even SpaceX, an outstanding private space company, was unable to earn more than half of its profits by relying on contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense. It was impossible to sustain an aerospace enterprise simply by launching commercial projects!
Although the economic growth rate of Xin was fast, it was a small country after all. How much of its annual finance budget could be put into space projects? Just relying on Russia’s outsourced International Space Station refueling project would be enough just for sustainment. If it really made money, why would Russia let them do it?
Therefore, Morgan Stanley and First B City Bank unanimously believed that Future Group would never be able to recover its investment costs within five years, and Jiang Chen could only repay debt through shares.
However, will Jiang Chen make their plan come true?
On the day of the space elevator completion, Future Group would launch its attack on the US Dollar.
…
It was almost two weeks since Natasha moved into the mansion. After two weeks of time together, Jiang Chen was used to the Russian girl.
If there were still things he was unaccustomed to, those were probably not being able to return to their home after work and freely have fun with the lovely Ayesha in the gym, bathroom, and balcony. And when he visited the apocalypse to see Sun Jiao and Yao Yao, he must lock the bedroom door.
However, the opportunity was still there, after all, Natasha didn’t stay at home all day. As a security guard at the embassy, she was not like Jiang Chen, who worked based on his mood and the weather. Even if there was a typhoon in Coro Island, she still must be at Embassy Street at seven o’clock every day.
On the 6th of June, the Kremlin finally agreed to Jiang Chen’s proposal for “person to exchange for information”.
Since Frankberg’s newly elected party came in power, Frankberg, Russia’s largest economic partner in Europe, immediately changed its original soft attitude towards Russia and became a staunch supporter of the “Southern Corridor” program—that is, expanding the investment of Azerbaijan Pipeline to Europe and seeking new sources of natural gas from south of the Caspian Sea to the Middle East.
If the “Southern Corridor” project is successful, it would shake up the European energy map and completely change the EU’s energy constraints on Russia. This would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to Russia.
The unaccounted Merkel most likely ended in a tragic fate, and the former Deputy Prime Minister Evelyn had become Russia’s hope. And Evelyn himself and his party “Christian Democratic Union” acted as one of the best pro-Russian governments in Europe. This could be clearly seen through Merkel’s series of statements related to the approval of lifting sanctions against Russia and the acceptance of Crimea to Russia.
And compared to Xin that was separated by tens of thousands of miles, Moscow, which is closer to Europe, could indeed provide better support for Evelyn.
So Jiang Chen made the right bet. Evelyn was indeed a heavy bargaining chip for Russia.
On the other hand, the increasingly tense situation in Turkey had actually stimulated Russia’s nerves. From the Willie society’s presence in the past civil war to the present intervention of Freemasonry interfering in the Turkish coup, the Kremlin finally realized the danger of this organization.
Russia was in need of allies on the Freemasonry issue.
It was undoubtedly that Xin, also threatened by the Freemasonry, would be a good choice!
“A total of 34.7 gigabytes of data on record with all the information from the WWII to the current KGB investigations of the Freemasonry. All of it is in the USB flash drive.” Natasha waved the USB in her hand and smiled, while lying on the sofa, she said, “Shouldn’t you do something to thank me?”
“Endless Vodka? Although I feel like you haven’t been polite when you raided my fridge.” Jiang Chen mocked her and reached for the USB.
“How is the situation in Country F? I heard that the Freemasonry sent Colonel Moritz from Europe as a military adviser for the Country F Army. That guy is certainly a spicy character.” Natasha grinned.
“Is he?” Jiang Chen smiled without denying or agreeing and put the USB into his pocket. “It’s the same for me.”
“I admire your confidence, but you must not underestimate your enemy.” Natasha warned. “I also heard that you and the UA WASP consortium are very close, but I have to remind you, don’t treat yourself as their ally. They may dislike Jews, but they do not like anyone outside of the Anglo-Saxons.”
After hearing this sentence, Jiang Chen suddenly laughed.
[Do you need to remind me?]
[There is no real ally in international politics.]
[The Diva Vodka you drank last Christmas was gifted by Rothschild, the head of Freemasonry.]